ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Over the first four innings, Longwood baseball and UNC Asheville were locked in a tight baseball game. The Asheville (14-7, 1-3 Big South) bats heated up over the final five innings, and the Bulldogs pulled away 12-0 to take the first game of a three-game series on Friday night over the Lancers (7-17, 1-3 Big South).
SCORE:
R H E
LWU 0 7 0
AVL 12 14 0
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Asheville came into the series with one of the top offenses in the Big South, and the Bulldogs found their rhythm in the middle innings after Longwood starter
Logan Berrier was efficient in his first time through the order.
Longwood's offense created chances in the first two innings. The Lancers had a trio of hits in the first inning and loaded the bases in the second, but Asheville starter Clay Edmondson wiggled out of trouble each time to keep the Lancers off the board.
While Asheville scored in the third, Berrier limited the damage to two runs, and he and Guillermo Garcia, Jr. helped limit an Asheville side that had scored double figures in runs nine times in 20 games to three runs after five innings.
However, a two-run double that skipped off the third base bag by Big South RBI leader Dylan Bacot helped break the game open in the sixth, and the Bulldogs never looked back.
Meanwhile, Edmondson (5-1) settled in on the mound for Asheville and shut down the Lancers after the spotty first two innings. The righthander earned the win after going 7.0 innings with six strikeouts against four hits and a walk.
Berrier (1-2) took the loss after pitching into the fifth inning. He struck out four in 4.1 innings of work without issuing a walk, and he surrendered three runs on six hits.
WHAT THEY SAID:
"Baseball is a tough sport," said Longwood Head Coach
Chad Oxendine. "It can beat you up. We have to put this one behind us and come out swinging tomorrow. Asheville has a great team. We don't have time to feel sorry for ourselves, and we must continue to fight."
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
Longwood is in the midst of an eight-game road swing—it's longest of the 2023 campaign. The stretch includes the team's first two conference series.
Eliot Dix went 2-4 at the plate for his 11
th multi-hit game this season.
Gregory Ryan, Jr. also went 2-4 at the plate, and the duo totaled more than half of Longwood's base hits.
UP NEXT:
Longwood has a chance to even the series on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. The game will be aired on ESPN+.
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